Lasting and sewing machine



Aug. 25, m2. ,H. P. CALL 2,293,711"

LASTING AND SEWING MACHINE Filed Aug. 6, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 25, I942.

H. P. CALL.

LASTING AND SEWING MACHINE Filed Aug. 6, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 25, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT orrice LASTIN G MD SEWING MACHINE Howard P. Gall, Norwood, Qhio, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application August 6, 1941, Serial No. 405,6t6

10 Claims. (01. 12-6) The present invention relates to improvements in machines for lasting and sewing shoes, and mere particularly to improvements in machines of the type disclosed in U S. Letters Patent to Fredericksen, No. 2,246,993 issued June 2'4, 1941, wherein the out-turned marginal portions of a shoe upper are sewn to the marginal portions of a thin unchannelled midsole or innersole prior to the attachment of the outsole.

In the machine of the aforesaid patent, a shoe upper is lasted and sewn to a thin unchannelled midsole of woven fabric mounted on the tread face of the last. The work is presented to the machine in such a manner as to. space the seam line from the break line of the last, the upper and midsole being stitched while in tensioned and gaping relation, with the result that the upper is drawn around said break line and secured to the midsole by a line of stitching which lies somewhat inside the break line of the last on the tread face thereof. The shoe is thereafter completed by amxing an outsole, which may be attached by cementing, or by stitching, as on a McKay type machine.

Such a shoe offers distinct advantages by reason of its flexibility and reduced weight, which are achieved through elimination of the conventional channelled insole, which is necessarily of appreciable thickness. To provide a shoe which will, in addition, possess certain features of the so-called Goodyear welt shoe, efforts have been directed to the provision of a machine which will effect the attachment of a welt strip to the upper and midsole, so that the shoe may be completed by attaching the outsole by the conventional Goodyear outseam, the stitches passing through the margin of welt and outsole.

One form of machine for attaching a welt, along with the lasting and sewing of an upper and unchannelled midsole, is disclosed in the copending application for U. S. Letters Patent of Koloske and Curtin, Serial No. 385,124, filed March 25, 1941. In this machine, guiding means are provided for presenting a welt strip, grooved slightly on its flesh side, to the sewing point along with the upper and the thin unchannelled midsole. The welt is so supported and directed that the needle passes through the welt from flesh to grain side, and then penetrates the upper and fabric midsole. Upon withdrawal of the needle and the setting of the stitch, the upper and welt are drawn around the break line of the last, the welt assuming a position which is, to a certain extent, consistent with its subsequent position upon attachment of the outsole. However, due to the angular direction of the stitches through the welt, the latter is drawn out of its fiatwise position, being distorted by the, pull of the stitches which tend to assume a position generally parallel to the tread surface of the shoe.

The present invention accordingly has as an object the provision, in a shoe lasting and sewing machine adapted to secure an upper to a thin unchannelled midsole, of welt guiding means for directing a welt to the sewing point in proper relation for attachment to the upper by the seam which connects the upper to the midsole, the welt being of such form and so guided in relation to the sewing point that the stitches lie substantially parallel to the surface of the Welt and toy the tread face of the shoe, so that the Welt, on

completion of the sewing, tends to assume a,

thereto, the welt being positioned with the slitaligned with the needle path and the Walt bent transversely to open the slit to the needle. More specifically, the welt. is presented to the sewing point so that the stitches pass edgewise of the welt through that portion of the welt adjacent the upper, with the result that as the upper and welt, are drawn by the pull of the stitches aroundthe break line of the last, the welt is caused to assume a uniformly flat and undistorted position with the welt drawn snugly a ainst the upper and with the stitches well buried in the upper and midsole.

In the drawings illustrating the invention in its preferred form, Figure 1 is a View in side elevation, partly in section, of a portion of a shoe, sewing, and lasting machine embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a view in front elevation, adjacent the sewing point, of the machine illustrated in Figure 1, showing the tensioning rolls, the welt guiding mechanism and a portion of the work being sewn; Figure 3 is a sectional view of a shoe lasted and sewn on the machine of the invention, prior to the trimming of the midsole, lining, and upper; Figure 4 shows the shoe, after trimming,

with an outsole in place prior to the sewing ofits manner of attachment, as the machine of the Koloske and Qurtin application hereinbefore referred to. Specifica ly, anupne 0 and ts. in-

ing I2 are temporarily secured on a last l4, with their margins extending free beyond the break line I5 of the last, formed by the intersection of the tread surface 18 and the side surface 20. Instead of employing the conventional relatively thick channelled insole, the upper is secured to a thin and flexible midsole member in the form of a fabric sheet 22 which, together with a plain innersole 24 having slightly bevelled edges 26, is temporarily secured to the tread surface of the last 14.

The illustrated machine, on which this assembly is sewn, together with a welt strip hereinafter more fully described, is of the same general type as that disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,864,510 issued June 21, 1932, to Bernard T. Leveque. The work support 32 of the machine is modified, however, in accordance with the disclosures of the Fredericksen patent above referred to, being of such shape and thickness as to permit the work to be presented to the sewing point in the attitude illustrated generally in Figure 1. The projecting margins of upper and midsole members are gripped between feed rolls 34 and 36, which operate with a continuous bite to advance the work to the sewing point with the upper and fabric midsole in tensioned and gaping relation. The work is so positioned in relation to the path of the straight eye-pointed needle 38 that the needle passes close to the break line of the last and approximately parallel to the bevelled edge 26 of the plain innersole 24, so as to penetrate the upper and midsole at points where these parts are somewhat spaced. Upon withdrawal of the needle and the setting of the stitch with the assistance of the looper 40, the upper is drawn around the break line of the last and secured to the midsole, as is fully disclosed in the aforesaid Fredericksen patent.

To provide for the completion of the shoe by attaching an outsole in accordance with the Goodyear method, the machine of the present invention is arranged to include a welt strip in the seam by which the upper and fabric midsole are secured, the welt being so formed and presented to the sewing point as to provide smooth and effective attachment without interfering with or rendering diflicult the lasting and sewing operation on upper and midsole. To this end, there is employed a welt strip provided with a longitudinal slit in which the stitches are laid, the welt presented to the sewing point at such an angle that the needle is enabled to enter the slit and pass edgewise of the Welt through that portion of the welt adjacent the upper to enable the stitches to extend substantially parallel to the welt surface and the tread face of the shoe.

In the embodiment of the invention particularly illustrated in Figures 1 through 4 of the drawings, the welt strip is indicated at 42, and is provided in its grain surface 44 with a continuous slit 46, the slit being directed at an acute angle to the welt surface. This welt strip, is directed to the sewing point by guiding means arranged to present the welt in edgewise relation to the upper with the slit aligned with the needle path, and with the welt bent transversely to open the slit to the needle. The welt guiding means, indicated generally at 48, is carried by the enlarged end or flange 50 of the supporting shaft 52 on which the upper feed roll 34 rotates, the outer face of the roll being hollowed out to permit the major portion of the guide to lie to the rear of the needle path, as shown in Figure 1.

The welt guide is formed in part by an integrally formed boss 54 projecting silghtly from the face of the flange 5|]. At its lower end the boss is grooved to provide a welt-receiving passage 56 which directs the welt at a downward angle (see Figure 2) toward the sewing point. The passage is deepest, rearwardly of the machine, at the top of the welt, so that the welt is tipped to the rear rather more than the plane of the roll 34, so as to be presented to the upper substantially edgewise thereof, as shown in Figure 1.

In order that the welt, even though supported in a position generally edgewise of the upper, may have the needle enter the slit and pass out through the edge of the welt, the guiding passage is provided with a toe 58 around which the welt is bent transversely. The bending is effected by a cap piece of thin metal, which likewise serves as a cover to retain the welt in the guiding groove 56, the cap being secured by countersunk flat-headed screws 62. The welt engaging end of the cap piece is formed generally parallel to the opposing guiding surfaces of the groove 56, the cap being bent at 64 to provide slight extra clearance opposite the toe 58 to permit the lip 66 of the slit to open fully, so as not to be caught by the needle or by the thread loop as the stitch is drawn into the bottom of the slit.

At its extreme lower end 68, the cap 6|! is thinned down slightly and turns inwardly into close proximity to the rib 54, so as firmly to engage the lower edge of the welt and insure proper bending of the welt around the toe 58. The end (58 likewise serves as a guide for the lasted upper, co-operating with the work support to insure the proper angle of presentation of the work. Since this portion of the guide lies substantially fiatwise of the upper, the possibility of marking the work is avoided, while the reduced thickness of the guide permits the upper to approach the welt closely, as shown in Figure 2.

It is evident from Figures 1 and 2 that the guide lies almost entirely to the rear of the needle path, with the major portion of the welt, in a transverse direction, extending upwardly and rearwardly from the sewing point, so as to be out of the Way of the operators line of vision. Since the guide extends into close proximity to the needle, as shown in Figure 2, the welt is positioned with a high degree of accuracy relative to the needle, and with ample transverse bend at the point of intersection with the needle path to insure proper entrance of the needle into the slit and the laying of the seam therein.

Upon the tightening of the stitch after withdrawal of the needle, the welt, upper, and midsole are drawn from the position shown in Figure 1 and at the right hand side of Figure 2 into the position represented by Figure 3 and the left hand side of Figure 2. That is, the result of taking-up the loose stitch which, when first inserted spans the gaping upper and midesole, is to cause the upper to be drawn, with the welt, around the break line of the last, the welt assuming a position of substantial parallelism relative to the tread face of the last, and substantially in the plane of the midsole. As shown in Figure 3, the edgewise direction of the stitches in the welt permits the welt to be drawn snugly into the angle formed by the margin of the upper without distorting the welt in any way. Accordingly, upon trimming the surplus material of midsole, lining, and upper, (a short flap '12 of the fabric midsole being folded back, as shown in Figure 4) a substantially plane, surface is; 12110.- v-ided for smooth overall contact, with, the outsole M. The fact that the welt is slit on its grain. face does not appreciably impair the appearance,

of the shoe, since the turn of the, upper adjacent, 5:

the seam compresses the welt to close. the lip of the slit over the seam, While the slititself is substantially concealed by the overhang of the upper, particularly when viewed from. above.

In certain cases, however, the presence of, a L

slit in the exposed grain face of the welt may bev deemed objectionable. The invention, therefore, contemplates in such instances, the use of a welt slit on its flesh side in accordance with the embodiment illustrated in Figures and 6, so that upon attachment of the outsole the slit will be entirely concealed.

To effect the attachment of a welt having its flesh side slit, welt guiding means indicated generally at 80 are provided, so that the welt 82 is 20,

presented to the sewing point in transversely bent condition to open the slit 84 to the needle, the major portion of the welt lying forwardly of the needle path with the flesh side facing up.

Like the first described embodiment of the invention, the welt guide 89 is carried by the supporting stud 88 for the upper tensioning roll 88, being mounted on a boss 90 at the end of said stud. The guide is formed of thin metal bent to define a transversely curved passage, the point of greatest curvature 92 engaging the grain side of the welt opposite the slit. The flesh side of the welt adjacent the lower edge is engaged by a straight portion $4 of the guide to bend the welt around the portion 92 which afiording room for 3.5

the lip of the slit to lie clear of the needle path. As a result, the needle is enabled to enter the slit and to pass edgewise of that portion of the welt adjacent the upper, so that upon tightening the stitch and the consequent drawing of the welt 0 and upper around the break line of the last, the stitches extend through welt, upper and innersole substantially parallel to the tread face of the last. Accordingly, as in the first described embodiment, the welt assumes a flat and undistorted position which permits ready attachment of the outsole, as shown in Figure 6, in this case,

however, the slit 8 3 being entirely hidden.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A machine for lasting a shoe upper andjo attaching the upper and a welt to the marginal portion of an unchanneled sole member of relatively flexible material mounted on the tread surface of a last having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a needle operating in the vicinity of the break line formed by the angle between the side and tread surfaces of the last, means including upper tensioning members on the machine for imparting a stretch to the upper and sole member at a distance from the last to cause the upper and sole member to gape at the tread surface side of the break line of the last in advance of the path of the needle, and welt guiding means for directing a welt toward the sewing point with an edge portion adjacent 5 the upper in parallel aligned relation to the needle path and with the remainder of the welt, transversely thereof, bent out of said needle path, whereby the welt is secured to the upper and drawn with the upper around the break line of 7 surface of a last having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a needle operating in the vicinity of the break line formed by the angle between the side and tread surfaces. of the last, means including upper tensioning members on the machine for imparting a stretch to the upper and sole member at a distance from the last to cause the upper and sole member to gape at the tread surface side of the break line of the last in advance of the path of the needle, and welt guiding means for directing a welt toward the sewing point in transversely bent condition and positioned relative to the needle path to enable the needle to enter the welt intermediate one face thereof and to pass out through the edge of the welt, whereby the welt-is secured to the upper and drawn with the upper around the break line of the last by stitches lying substantially parallel to the surface of the welt.

3. A machine for lasting a shoe upper and attaching the upper and a welt. to the marginal portion of an unchanneled sole member of relatively flexible material mounted on the tread surface of a last having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a needle operating in the vicinity of the break line formed by the angle between the side and tread surfaces of the last, means including upper tensioning members on the machine for imparting a stretch to the upper and sole member at a distance from the last to cause the upper and sole member to gape at the tread surface side of the break line of the last in advance of the path of the needle, welt guiding means for directing a welt, slit along one face, toward thesewing point with the slit aligned with the needle path and with the welt bent transversely opposite the slit to open the same to the needle, whereby the welt is secured to the upper and drawn with the upper around the break line of the last by stitches laid in the slit and substantially concealed when the welt is returned to flattened condition.

4. A machine for lasting a shoe upper and attaching the-upper and a welt to the marginal portion of an unchanneled sole member of relatively flexible material mounted on the tread surface of a last having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a needle operating in the vicinity of the break line formed by the angle between the side and tread surfaces ofthe last, means including upper tensioning members on the machine for imparting a stretch to the upper and sole member at a distance from the last to cause the upper and sole member to gape at the tread surface side of the break line of the last in advance of the path of the needle, and welt guiding means for directing a welt, slit along its grain face, toward the sewing point with an edge portion adjacent the upper in parallel aligned relation to the needle path and with the remainder of the welt, transversely thereof bent to the rear of the needle path to open the slit to the needle, whereby the welt is secured to the upper and drawn with the upper,

around the break line of the last by stitches laid in the slit and lying substantially parallel to the surface of the welt.

5. A machine for lasting a shoe upper and attaching the upper and a welt to the marginal portion of an unchanneled sole member of relatively flexible material mounted on the tread surface of a last having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a needle operating in the vicinity of the break line formed by the tively flexible material mounted on the, treadangle between the side and tread surfaces of the last, means including upper tensioning members on the machine for imparting a stretch to the upper and sole member at a distance from the last to cause the upper and sole member to gape at the tread surface side of the break line of the last in advance of the path of the needle, and welt guiding means for directing a welt, slit along its flesh side, toward the sewing point with an edge portion adjacent the upper in parallel aligned relation to the needle path and with the remainder of the welt transversely thereof, bent forwardly of the needle path to open the slit to the needle, whereby the welt is secured to the upper and drawn, with the upper, around the break line of the last by stitches laid in the slit and lying substantially parallel to the surface of the welt.

6. A machine for lasting a shoe upper and attaching the upper and a welt to the marginal portion of an unchanneled sole member of relatively flexible material mounted on the tread surface of a last having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a needle operating in the vicinity of the break line formed by the angle between the side and tread surfaces of the last, means including upper tensioning members on the machine for imparting a stretch to the upper and sole member at a distance from the last to cause the upper and sole member to gape at the tread surface side of the break line on the last in advance of the path of the needle, and welt guiding means for directing a Welt, slit at an acute angle along one face, toward the sewing point with an edge portion adjacent the upper in parallel aligned relation to the needle path, said guiding means having cooperating guiding surfaces curved transversely of the welt in the vicinity of the slit to bend the welt transversely and thereby open the slit to the needle, whereby the welt is secured to the upper and drawn, with the upper, around the break line of the last by stitches laid in the slit and lying substantially parallel to the surface of the welt.

'7. A machine for lasting a shoe upper and attaching the upper and a welt to the marginal portion of an unchanneled sole member of relatively flexible material mounted on the tread surface of a last having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a needle operating in the vicinity of the break line formed by the angle between the side and tread surfaces of the last, means including upper tensioning members on the machine for imparting a stretch to the upper and sole member at a distance from the last to cause the upper and sole member to gape at the tread surface side of the break line of the last in advance of the path of the needle, and welt guiding means for directing a welt, slit at an acute angle along one face, toward the sewing point into edgewise contact with the upper, and with the slit aligned with the needle path, said guiding means including a toe portion arranged to engage the face of the welt opposite the slit and a cooperating guiding portion arranged to engage and bend the welt transversely around said toe portion to open the slit to the needle, whereby the welt is secured to the upper and drawn, with the upper, around the break line of the last by stitches laid in the slit and lying substantially parallel to the surface of the welt.

8. A machine for lasting a shoe upper and attaching the upper and a welt to the marginal portion of an unchanneled sole member of relatively flexible material mounted on the tread and welt guiding means carried by said stud at the outer end thereof for directing a welt toward the sewing point with the edge portion adjacent the upper in parallel aligned relation to the needle path and with the remainder of the welt, transversely thereof, bent out of said needle path, whereby the welt is secured to the upper and drawn, with the upper, around the break line of the last, by stitches lying substantially parallel to the surface of the welt.

9. A machine for lasting a shoe upper and attaching the upper and a welt to the marginal portion of an unchanneled sole member of relatively flexible material mounted on the tread surface of a last having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a needle operating along a path approximately parallel to the portions of the sole member supported by the tread surface of the last, means including tensioning rolls for engaging and imparting a stretch to the upper and sole member at a distance from the last to cause the upper and sole member to gape at the tread surface side of the break line of the last in advance of the needle path, a stud for supporting the upper-engaging tension roll, and

welt guiding means carried by said stud at the end thereof for directing a welt, slit along its grain surface, toward the sewing point with the slit aligned with the needle path, said guiding means having guiding surfaces for bending the welt transversely opposite the slit to open the same to the needle while causing the major portion of the welt to pass rearwardly of the needle path, the major portion of said guiding means likewise being disposed to the rear of said needle path and within the periphery of the feed roll.

10. A machine for lasting a shoe upper and attaching the upper and a welt to the marginal portion of an unchanneled sole member of relatively flexible material mounted on the tread surface of a last having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a needle operating along a path approximately parallel to the portions of the sole member supported by the tread surface of the last, means including tensioning rolls for engaging and imparting a stretch to theupper and sole member at a distance from the last to cause the upper and sole member to gape at the tread surface side of the break line of the last in advance of the needle path, a stud for supporting the upper-engaging tension roll, and welt guiding means carried by said stud at the outer end thereof for directing a welt, slit along its flesh side at an acute angle thereto, toward the sewing point, with an edge portion adjacent the upper and with the slit aligned with the needle path, said guiding means having cooperating guiding surfaces curved transversely of the welt for bending the welt opposite the slit to position the welt with the portion adjacent the upper in parallel aligned relation to the needle path and with the other portion of the welt bent forwardly of the needle path to open the slit to the needle.

HOWARD P. CALL. 

